An Invercargill garden catches the attention of Gillian Vine.
There's a crocodile in the pond at Hawthorne Gardens. This is not Queensland but Southland, so the croc is a fake. Just as well, or I'd be venturing no further.
Heather and Ian Hawthorne started their Myross Bush garden almost 25 years ago. Typical of a farmer's wife, Heather kept moving the fences to plant trees, shrubs, flowers and lawns.
Heather's action in expanding the garden may not have been unusual, but the result is a unique 2ha garden which, being just 5km from Invercargill, has become popular for weddings.
''It's sort of rooms,'' she says.
Heather calls herself ''sort of a traditionalist'', so the garden is quite English in style, with hedges to define the ''rooms'' or frame a view. Except for the tall boundary hedges, Heather does all the trimming, from low box edging to tall Leyland cypress (Cupressus x leylandii).
She has an eye for vistas, so an urn in a small lawn - ''the ram paddock when we came here'' - looks good close up but even better when viewed through an arch draped with wisteria and a banksia rose. Nearby, the primrose blooms of magnolia Elizabeth echo the yellow of the rose.
Heather clearly has an instinct for colour and for timing. Her favourite rhododendron, Lem's Cameo, whose apricot-pink flowers sometimes make it a little difficult to choose teammates, is grown under a white flowering cherry that blooms at the same time.
Lem's Cameo also makes an appearance in the woodland area in spring, along with other rhododendrons, many of which Heather has grown from cuttings.
In spring, bluebells add a blue note at ground level, while the variegated foliage of Weigela florida and a maple draw the eye higher.
Ian's love of the quirky is evident in things like a venerable push mower perched on a rock, deliberately looking as if mowing had started then been abandoned.
An old wool press now does duty as a table in the wedding reception area and a unique seat has been created around two old wheels.
These old items, given new life, fit well around Heather's traditional approach and the combination makes Hawthorne Gardens a delight.
See it
• Hawthorne Gardens is one of almost 20 properties in the Southland Open Gardens scheme.
• The garden is open only by appointment; phone (03) 215-8122 or email info@hawthornegardens.co.nz to book a visit.
• For the full list of Southland's open gardens, see www.southlandgardens.co.nz.
